Cómo afectan las interacciones de las variables independientes, las concepciones implícitas sobre el aprendizaje de los participantes.

One of the major roles of parents is to restore family rules and routines in times of disruption that afford a sense of stability, coherence, and will-being (Boss, 2006; Fiese, 2006). In the event that learners studying in townships are behaving in a way that is not acceptable, there should be a guardian or parent that can take parental disciplinary measures in order to stop that specific behaviour from occurring again (Skinner & Zimmer‐Gembeck, 2016). Parents that make use of necessary disciplinary measures with their children when they do not behave in the required manner are more likely to build resilience in their school-going child.

Among processes connecting family and child resilience, parent-child relationships are the ones that have received the most attention (Cox & Paley, 2002; Fernandez, Schwartz, Chun & Dickson, 2013). According to SACE (2011), “The family is the most significant institution in shaping the beliefs, attitudes and values of children, attitudes and values, which tend to feed into socially based sex role stereotypes.”

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2.12 The role of the school in ensuring the resilience of learners in

township schools

The secondary school used in this research has activities in play that enable learners to be resilient to violence as well as to keep them occupied and their minds busy. There are many school activities and projects such as clubs, sports and fellowship groups that the learners can participate in (Blair & Raver, 2016). These projects play a major role in keeping the learners busy and away from violent activities.

Certain measures like counselling and guidance, as well as life orientation play a vital role in the townships, specifically Chatsworth, as the environment in which these learners live has many of the risk factors associated with violent behaviour. The procedures that are set by the school also play an important role as they limit the eruption of violence within the school’s premises. Learners who engage in violent activities like fighting or bullying should be punished accordingly, and an example made from them that such behaviour is not condoned at the school (McEwen, 2016). The school’s code of conduct and safety policies should be utilised consistently when the need arises, and all the learners should know what corrective action the school might take in the event that there is a learner who has broken the code of conduct. In extreme cases, learners should be expelled for unacceptable behaviour within the school premises in order to create a clear picture for the other learners that such behaviour is unacceptable (Mastenet al., 2015).

Support from the parents or the Department of Basic Education can play a major role in ensuring resilience in learners who study in township schools. The SACE study on school violence reported that educators have a feeling of not being supported by the Department of Education to empower them to be able to deal with violence at schools and to empower them to be able to foster resilience among school learners. Parents should also play a major role in supporting their children in order to build resilience to violence. They can assist their children with homework if they can, follow up on the

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child’s progress with the teacher, and provide an environment that is conducive for the child to do his or her studies, to mention but a few (Gunnar, & Heim, 2009).

This supportive role by the Department of Basic Education as well as parents is important in ensuring that resilience to violence fosters amongst the secondary school learners in Chatsworth Township (Skinner & Zimmer‐Gembeck, 2016).

2.13 The role of the community in ensuring resilience of learners in

township schools

For a community to have resilient learners, its members must put into practice early and effective actions that address violence so that they can respond to its occurrence in a timely manner. If residents, organisations, and agencies adopt intentional and meaningful actions before an event, they can help the community re-establish stability after the event. Resilience implies that when an event has occurred a community is able to cope and recover, and to also critically look at the event and consider new priorities arising in order to improve the situation continuously (Mastenet al., 2015). Secondary school learners and teenagers in townships are at risk for stress reactions following a violent incident (Mastenet al., 2015). These learners may have sleeping and eating disturbances, problems concentrating on schoolwork, irritability and anger, or headaches and stomach-aches (Mastenet al., 2015). They may start to have academic or behavioural problems at school, lose interest in activities they once enjoyed, avoid friends, or even engage in dangerous behaviours.

The community can do a number of things in order to ensure resilience among secondary school learners in the Chatsworth Township. It can hold partnership meetings to update violence response activities as a way to keep leadership in all sectors apprised of actions. It can work with all sector leaders, particularly public health leaders, to create risk messages pertaining to the disaster that will reach all residents in the community, including children. It needs to be mindful that any message has a high likelihood of being heard by children, even if they are not the intended audience.

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The community can communicate to residents as well as the school learners on how and where they can receive mental health services related to the recent violence. It can sponsor, support, and participate in educational programmes for caregivers designed to increase their knowledge about how best to help learners in the aftermath of the violence. The community may also consider providing childcare services to reduce barriers to attendance. The likelihood of caregiver participation increases when programmes are directed at helping learners. These programmes generally have the added benefit of helping caregivers in their own recovery.

Additionally, the community can create a community-wide campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental health services in the aftermath of the violence, particularly those for improving the mental health of learners. It can encourage residents to utilise their support systems such as family, friends, faith-based and cultural organisations, as these are important to emotional wellness and recovery in the aftermath of the violence. The community can also disseminate updated and disaster- specific information and materials such as handouts from the health care, mental health, and public health sectors, for use across community settings. Finally, it can provide information about and support for self-care activities for secondary school learners and their families.

2.14 The role of social media in ensuring resilience of learners in

township schools

Engagement in social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can build up learner’s resilience and have a beneficial effect on mental wellbeing, according to Govender & Killian (2001), despite previous warnings to the contrary. Eke and Singh (2018) conducted a study on social networking as a strategic tool in the management of school-based violence in the Umgungundlovu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and found that contrary to negative reports on social media being an enabler of violent behaviours at schools, it can also be used strategically to manage school-based violence. The study indicated that managers at schools were able to employ social networking as a tool for information gathering and were able to use the media to

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manage school-based violence. This allowed school managers to develop strategies to reduce school-based violence and create school climates that promoted teaching and learning.

Liou (2013) conducted a study on how social media can be used for the prevention of violence against women by considering three social media campaigns in China, India and Vietnam. The study concluded that social media can be used effectively to mobilise youth to discuss important issues on violence against women, modelling positive behaviours, and guiding audiences to positive solutions. There was, however, little evidence that social media alone could be effective in changing gender socialization. The author recommended that social media campaigns be combined with, among others, offline components for gathering and engaging youth around the campaign, partnering on the ground in target areas, and rewarding people, both those who contribute and those who benefit.

Analysing evidence from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2018) data, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and other independent studies into the effects of technology on young people, researchers found using social media helped learners to develop their social skills, collaborate better with peers, and access help and emotional support more easily (NSPCC, 2018).

Teenagers with mental health problems are also increasingly likely to seek support from charities such as ChildLine through the internet or they can easily obtain the information from the radio or television (Govender & Killian, 2001). ChildLine provides social services which include a 24-hour toll-free helpline for children who have been victims of violence, and their families; education awareness for preventing violence against children; advocating for policy changes that will facilitate good management practices for abused children; research into violence against children; and training and

development of staff members and volunteers. While restricting a learner’s use of the

internet has been shown to reduce the chances of them experiencing online risks, this can be counterproductive as restricted access also inhibits the development of the

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skills and resilience needed to handle such risks (Barankin, 2007). Social media, therefore, can play a very important role in making secondary school learners know how to proceed when faced with a violent situation and ultimately boost the learners’ resilience.

2.15 The role of protective factors in ensuring resilience of learners

in township schools

2.15.1 Standing up for beliefs

Secondary school learners in Chatsworth should be able to stand up for their positive beliefs for them to be resilient to violence (Barankin, 2007). There is a general belief in the black community that violence is pandemic and how a victim deals with a violent incident is crucial to how they perform in their day to day activities (Barankin, 2007). These beliefs should be active in the learners and in the event that a violent incident occurs, these learners would know exactly where and when to go and what to do (Dunkle, Jewkes & Brown, 2004).

2.15.2 Being honest with self and others

Learners should also be honest with themselves when encountering a violent incident. They should be able to face what happened and be able to open up to others for assistance (Barankin, 2007). Being honest with oneself is an important stage of resilience as this will show that the victim is now ready to move on from the stressful incident and go back to their normal state. These learners need to be able to open up to their peers or people they trust when they are dealing with a violent incident that occurred in their life (Dunkle,et al, 2004).

2.15.3 Development of a sense of purpose

Learners who have a clear purpose and direction for their lives find it much easier to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and keep moving forward. People with purpose are known to be more resilient. While some people get knocked down and

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stay right there, resilient people are able bounce back from their misfortune (Burton, 2013). Having purpose makes it easier to bounce back in challenging times by providing perspective, stability, confidence and determination.

One of the common traits among learners who live with purpose is that they are able to find meaning and learning in all of life’s experiences, making them emotionally resilient. This ability to find meaning in life experiences, especially when confronting life’s challenges, offers a psychological buffer against obstacles. Having a purpose allows

one to bounce forward, so as not to end upback in the same place.

2.15.4 Development of optimism

Seligman (2012) mentioned that helplessness can be learned just the same way optimism can also be learned. This means that people can learn optimism just the same way as they can unlearn it. He suggested that people learn to ‘hear’ and even write down their beliefs about the events that block them from feeling good about themselves or their lives and pay attention to the ‘recordings’ played in their heads about them.

Seligman (2012) also suggested that the consequences of those beliefs be written out – the toll they take on emotions, energy, will to act, and the like. He suggested that when people get used to pessimistic thought patterns these run through their minds and challenge them. The author suggested that people should challenge the usefulness of certain beliefs and gather alternative ideas and that this might lead to better solutions. People can therefore choose to see problems as temporary and not long lasting. This new type of thinking can stop the ‘loop’ of negative tapes running through one’s head. Over time, this more optimistic thinking becomes engrained as a default position, and as optimism over pessimism are chosen through repeated experiences, new energy and vitality are the reward.

2.16 Coping Skills